Arsenic Pollution of a Loam Soil: Retention Form and Decontamination

A study was conducted to assess the retention form of arsenic in soil and to evaluate the use of phosphate for releasing it from the soil. In this study, a loam soil was artificially polluted with arsenate at pH 5.5, which is one of the pH values at which maximum arsenic adsorption occurred. The soil was kept for 2.5 months under wet conditions to allow for stabilization. The soil was maintained under aerobic condition and losses of arsenic by volatilization were determined to be minimal. The soil was then sequentially extracted with a series of chemicals to identify the soil fractions in which the arsenic was bound. The percentage of arsenic found in the Fe bound-exchangeable, reducible-residual, Al bound exchangeable, residual, calcium bound exchangeable, and easily exchangeable forms was 31.6, 27.3, 25.2, 5.5, 4.9, and 4.7%, respectively. A batch experiment showed that at 20°C, 80% of the bound arsenic was removed by phosphate in the pH range of 5 to 7. A power function model was found to fit the data with a desorption rate constant of 402 mg/kg As h−1.